Brief History of the Microcomputer, A

The "Chips" That Started it All Micro-Chip All microcomputers use a processor called a mirco-chip. This is typically a small square sliver of silicon (glass) with pathways etched on it via a chemical process. These pathways can be transistors or simply "wires" that connect the transistors. If you can pack enough of these transistors on the silicon "die" then those transistors can become a processing unit, memory, and a calculator. The entire thing is called an "integrated circuit."